THE newest member of the Lake District National Park Authority's estate team has already made his mark on the landscape.

On his first day on the job, Andrew Gornall, 23, from Dent, was set to work on repairing a badly eroded footpath at Colwith.

He helped install oak steps up a steep, slippery part of the route, as well as the resurfacing of a stretch of path across a muddy meadow.

Work on the popular path - which forms part of the Cumbria Way - had to be postponed last year because of the foot-and-mouth outbreak.

"It's been very fulfilling work to see how much better the path looks and how much easier it is to walk on," said Mr Gornall, who trained at Newton Rigg.

" The repairs should also prevent further damage to the path.

We' ve had at least 40 walkers go past each day and this is still the quiet season so the pressure on the route during the summer must be intense."